Page 72 of Enticing My Off Limits Billionaire

Because she's it.

She's everything.

"Hey...I'm just a phone call away," I tell her. "But when we're done with the final walkthrough before construction...I'm going to take some time off. Take Adam with me to visit our folks. I don't want you to feel like you're alone, but..."

"But maybe I need to be for a little while," she says, pulling back and nodding. She's still clutching my arms for dear life like she'll drown if she doesn't hang on.

I nod back, my heart heavy, knowing I'm letting her go to help her. "Yeah. Maybe."

Madison wipes away her tears, and I try to give her a small smile. "We'll get through this," I say.

She nods, and we sit there for a while longer in silence, holding each other. Stanley purrs contentedly, and I wonder what he thinks of all this.

Maybe he understands more than we give him credit for.

I have to hope he's so relaxed because he knows this isn't the end.

Eventually, Madison pulls away and stands up. "I should go. I need to get some sleep."

I stand up, too, and we walk to the door together. "I'll see you soon," I say.

She smiles at me, and for a moment, everything feels okay. "Yeah. Soon." And then she's gone, leaving me alone with my thoughts and Stanley.

I sit back on the couch and hold him close, trying to process everything that happened in the past few hours. We had such an amazing few days...but it was a dream. And then life came crashing back in with Adam's arrival and Kylie's hospitalization.

I need to call Gavin.

I must put all my ducks in a row with the Threshold before we leave the country.

And I hope Madison will still be here when we're both ready.

Chapter twenty-three

Madison

Steponetowardgettingright with yourself: spend some time alone. That's easier said than done when you're in love.

Quinn calls me the day after I visit Kylie in the hospital to let me know that he and his brother are traveling in Europe after this week and that we need to do a walkthrough of the performance space before he goes.

Ryan is almost ready to start construction, Delia is eager to see the Threshold come to life, and I'm...

...I'm dealing.

Not well, but enough.

That Friday, I show up to the meeting early as usual, my satchel over my shoulder. I tried to pace myself because I'm a little nervous about seeing Quinn, but I just don't operate that way. My heart twists in my chest when I see him walking in my direction from the subway, his hand raised in greeting and a casual smile on his face.

Like we were never anything.

That...it hurts.

"Hey," he says when he gets close enough, his voice soft. "Been a while."

"It's been like three days," I smirk.

"That's too long with you," he murmurs.

I bite my lip, my smile fading. "It's going to be even longer."

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